Ask the prescriber to check this route
You must be 18 or older. The weight and health checks use your circumstances when treatment began. See the requirements below and ask your prescriber to check each one.
The Bridge covers orforglipron (Foundayo tablets), semaglutide (Wegovy injections or tablets), and tirzepatide (Zepbound KwikPen). KwikPen is the name of a pen-shaped device for injecting the medicine. For Zepbound, check that the box says KwikPen.
The program requires a prescription and prior authorization, meaning agreement before payment.
Treatment for type 2 diabetes, a blood-sugar condition, goes through ordinary Part D drug coverage. Some heart, sleep and liver treatment uses also go through Part D; ask your prescriber which route applies.
Check the weight, health and plan requirements
BMI, or body mass index, is a weight measure based on your height. Ask your prescriber to calculate yours. The Bridge requires one of these three combinations:
BMI at or above 35.
BMI of 30 or more plus a listed heart, blood-pressure or kidney condition. These are heart failure where the heart still squeezes normally; blood pressure above 140 on the top reading or above 90 on the bottom despite two blood-pressure medicines; or stage 3a or later kidney disease. Ask your prescriber to check the exact diagnosis.
BMI of 27 or more, plus pre-diabetes, a past stroke or heart attack, or artery disease that causes symptoms because blood flow to the limbs is reduced. With pre-diabetes, blood sugar sits above the normal range but below the range for diabetes.
You also need either a separate Part D plan or Medicare Advantage drug coverage from a plan that qualifies. Ask the plan whether your plan type qualifies. Treatment must include an ongoing plan for eating and physical activity.
The payment and the end date
As of September 2026, eligible participants pay $50 for a monthly supply. That patient payment is called a copay.
The program began July 1, 2026 and is set to run through December 31, 2027.
It runs outside the usual Part D drug-benefit payment system.
The Part D deductible, the amount paid before drug coverage starts, does not apply. Part D's yearly cap on patients' own payments does not include this copay.
People with low incomes get no extra help with this copay under the Bridge. Coupons cannot be added, and the payment cannot be spread through the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan.
When ordinary Part D applies
The Bridge also excludes moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, where breathing repeatedly stops during sleep, and a particular liver condition: MASH with moderate to advanced scarring but no cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is severe liver scarring. Ask your prescriber to check the diagnosis; not every fatty-liver condition excludes you. Prescriptions to reduce the risk of major heart or stroke events also go to Part D.
Receiving a GLP-1 prescription paid for by Part D during 2026 rules out using the Bridge during 2026. As of September 26, 2026, the same check on past use had not been set for 2027.
Do not assume the medicine's brand name settles the device question. Zepbound pens that each give one injection, called single-dose pens, are not covered by the Bridge. Neither are Zepbound vials, the small bottles used to draw up medicine for an injection. The program lists only the Zepbound device named KwikPen.